A one-stop source for information on a variety of social issues. Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, as well as full-text magazine and newspaper articles.
Issues & Controversies explore more than 800 timely, in-depth, and objective articles on topics such as politics, government, business, education, and popular culture. It is updated weekly and provides links to a 13-year backfile. Also included are links to news coverage, pros and cons statements, timelines, statistics, etc.
Political scientists, journalists & economics researchers are going to find original information on health care, criminal justice, political and social trends, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. Each report includes an overview; background and chronology on the topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources.
Biography in Context includes over 700,000 biographical entries covering more than 400,000 notable international figures from all time periods and areas of study.
An incredibly valuable resource, the Pew Research Center provides information about issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other data-driven social science research. They do not take policy positions.
Online Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Background resources for broader topics (definitions of terms, topics, etc):
Provides access to hundreds of online reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations from a variety of publishers. Covers both general reference and subject-specific reference titles for a variety of disciplines. Topic Pages give great background overviews on subjects.
Britannica Academic Edition contains the Encyclopaedia Britannica, one of the largest, most authoritative encyclopedias in the world. Besides articles it includes ebooks, links to major news stories from the New York Times and the BBC, maps, photos, and other multi-media tools such as interactive timelines and videos. It also has Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus, and the Britannica Student Encyclopedia.
